Create `sigimax`, a new GUI tools library for DataLab

[PierreRaybaut]

🎉 New repository

Here is the associated repository: https://github.com/DataLab-Platform/sigimax

✨ Objective

Extract and consolidate all generic, reusable GUI and application-layer components from the datalab-app (formerly cdl) package into a new standalone library: sigimax.

This will provide a common foundation for building new Qt-based data analysis applications, both inside and outside of the main DataLab GUI, and facilitate future reuse, testing, and maintenance.

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🧱 Scope of sigimax

The sigimax package will include:

• 🧰 Generic widgets (e.g. from cdl.widgets, excluding those specific to DataLab like connection.py, wizard.py)
• ⚙️ Application configuration management
• 📜 Logging system and log display widgets
• 🕘 Recent file management
• 🗂️ HDF5 file browser widget
• 🪟 Basic main window template (foundation for standalone apps)
• 🚀 Welcome dialog template (e.g. "New project", "Open recent", "Import file")
• 🔗 DataLab client widgets (migration of DataLab Simple Client GUI)

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🗂 Suggested module structure

sigimax/
├── widgets/
│   ├── browser.py
│   ├── logviewer.py
│   ├── hdf5explorer.py
│   └── ...
├── config/
│   ├── settings.py
│   └── defaults.py
├── app/
│   ├── mainwindow_base.py
│   └── welcome_dialog.py
├── client/
└── ...

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🚧 Tasks

• Define boundaries: what stays in datalab-app, what moves to sigimax
• Create new repo sigimax in the DataLab-Platform GitHub org
• Create Python package scaffolding (PEP 621-style pyproject.toml)
• Move selected modules from cdl/ to sigimax/ (preserving git history if possible)
• Integrate the simple XML-RPC client widgets (GUI part of the old cdlclient package)
• Update internal imports in DataLab accordingly
• Add initial documentation + usage examples (for reuse in other apps)
• Publish on PyPI under the sigimax name

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📌 Context

This library complements the newly modularized architecture of the DataLab ecosystem:

• datalab-platform: GUI frontend
• sigima: computational backend (incl. remote control)
• sigimax: base components for UI, configuration, and reusable elements

The goal is to support future development of lightweight, domain-specific applications by providing a clean, tested, and documented foundation.

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🔗 Related

• Naming and Packaging Strategy for the DataLab Ecosystem #181
• Create sigima, a new core library for DataLab #166